


the magic music cube

by starsandcoffee



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunay, I'll tag more as I update this, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), So is Hunk, first song is I Think I'm In Love by Kat Dahlia, klance, maybe a bit of smut, nothing too graphic, oneshots based around music, second song is Counting Stars by Augustana, shallura - Freeform, shiro is SO far gone, so is everyone really, so is lance, third song is Bad Religion by Frank Ocean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-01 00:30:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10910607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsandcoffee/pseuds/starsandcoffee
Summary: One day, Keith and Lance find a small cube in a marketplace. It turns out that the cube reads minds and plays music based on what people are thinking/feeling. Basically, a bunch of oneshots - each chapter is based on a song, and each chapter is independent of the previous one. Just a way for me to be self-indulgent and write about everybody dancing :)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy <3  
> Come scream about Klance and fangirl with me on Twitter @queenbrekker if you want!

“God!” yells Keith, as something slimy and wet lands on his neck. He and Lance are threading their way through a giant crowd of Lyev, aliens who stand about nine feet tall. The males have manes much like earth lions, but they’re neatly styled and both sexes decorate their faces with intricate metallic dots. Unfortunately, clothes don’t appear to be a priority, so Keith has been dragging Lance away from nine-foot-tall females all day — he _won’t_ stop pointing out that “their boobs are bigger than my _head_ , Keith!” Obviously, this hasn’t helped Keith’s low-level headache, and now he thinks he’s had the equivalent of ice cream dropped down his shirt by a seven-foot-tall child, who has the audacity to laugh at his exasperated expression. “Jesus Christ!” he yells, absolutely fed up. “Don’t look at me, Mullet,” Lance smirks. “I’m just here to perform a mission given to me by the noble Princess Allura!” “You’re here to get more fucking space goo powder for Coran, dumbass,” replies Keith. Lance only grins: he doesn’t seem to be bothered by the oppressive heat of the planet, and only one drop of sweat rolls down his tanned face, looking like it was placed there for a photoshoot. Keith is sure he doesn’t look the same. His pale skin is burning, he has ice cream in his hair, and he thinks he might melt if they don’t get out of the sun.

All of a sudden, he sees a sign standing outside of a run-down shop — _miraculously_ written in English — that advertises cold drinks for cheap. Keith doesn’t even stop to consider it, only grabs Lance by the back of his suit and yanks him under the awning. The Lyev man behind the counter doesn’t appear to speak anything other than Lyevese — which basically sounds like growling — so Keith gestures at one of the drinks on the menu, hoping it won’t kill him. Meanwhile, Lance is wandering around the store, picking through the items piled in the back. He steps back and knocks over a pile of junk and one oddly shiny copper-coloured cube, around the size of Lance’s fist, falls in front of his feet, emitting a loud note. _Shit,_ thinks Lance. _I hope that’s not broken._ The Lyev man hears the noise and comes around the counter to investigate. Lance has picked up the cube and is investigating it curiously, wondering how it made that noise. The shopkeeper launches into full salesman mode, forgetting Keith’s drink entirely, to his annoyance. “2000 GAC!” he exclaims loudly. “What does it do?” asks Lance, confused. The salesman can’t understand him, but he launches into some kind of odd dance. Both Lance and Keith are entirely bewildered when the salesman stops and runs into the back room. He returns quickly, carrying a battered phrasebook. “Earth?” he asks, in a strong accent. “Yes…” nods Lance. The salesman flips through his book again, then yells “Earth music!”, obviously proud of his English. This doesn’t do much to clear up the confusion, so the salesman grabs the box and stabs a couple buttons on the side that neither paladin had noticed. 

All of a sudden, the box starts loudly emitting Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which surprises both Lance and Keith. The salesman pages through the phrasebook, then raises a finger — Keith notices that it’s tipped with a giant claw — and proclaims “any music!” proudly. He thinks for a few minutes, then says “it is what you think,” pressing a small button embossed with an image of a Lyev head. He places the box down on a table, then stares at it intently, and the song changes from one weird growling melody to another — Lance guesses that’s Lyev music. “It changes…when you think?” asks Lance. The salesman nods frantically, jumping up and down with excitement. “ _Ohmygod,_ ” says Lance. “Oh my god! Earth music, Keith! Earth music!” Keith has never seen him happier, and before he can stop him he throws down 2000 GAC — all of their space goop allowance — and snags the cube from the salesman. 

Once outside, Keith’s drink forgotten, Keith turns, meaning to berate Lance for spending nearly all of their money. The words die on the tip of his tongue, though: Lance’s eyes are shining, and he’s practically dancing, even without music. Keith sighs. 

They end up stealing the goop powder from an unsuspecting salesman: Lance comments that it’s not a very Last-Defenders-of-the-Universe thing to do, but their money is gone. Keith and Lance come to a mutual agreement that they won’t tell Shiro the goop is stolen, and just say the box was a gift. They head back to Keith’s lion, which is parked on the outskirts of town and has several curious children running around the base, and take off for the Castle. 

When they arrive, Keith drops the goo powder off for Coran, then he and Lance go to find Pidge. They hand the cube over to her, explaining that they found it in the market, then explain that it seems to be able to play earth music — or any music — based on what the user is thinking about. “Amazing!” she exclaims, making her endearing nerd face. “It must be incredibly advanced!” She takes it and plugs a cable into a tiny port on the bottom. “I’m going to download the software and try to figure out how it works,” she explains. “Mind reading capabilities like this could be incredibly useful in the fight against Zarkon!” 

Keith and Lance find the rest of the group and present them with the cube. Lance presses the little button on its side, and hands it off to each paladin to see what happens. When Keith takes it _blasts_ Welcome to the Black Parade — what else would you expect — and he hands it quickly off to Allura. For her, it plays something in Altean that nearly brings her to tears: it’s obviously something from her childhood. Shiro takes it reluctantly, and it starts playing “I’ll Make a Man out of You,” causing Shiro to blush and everybody else to crack up. “You _are_ basically Li Shang though,” wheezes Lance. For Hunk, it plays a feel-good song from the Lumineers, which doesn’t surprise anyone but makes Hunk smile. When Pidge takes it, it plays “Oh No!” from Marina and the Diamonds, and she laughs. Finally, Lance takes it, and it starts a Shakira song at the decibel level of a small factory. Lance acts upset, but Keith notices that he seems the most light-hearted he’s been in weeks. 

“That is incredible,” says Allura. “It seems to play songs that represent our personalities, or maybe what we’re thinking. Here, paladins, gather around it. Let’s see if we can change what it plays!” Everybody stands around the tiny cube in a loose circle, and it starts to play “Another Night on Mars,” by The Maine. Keith grins — the song represents their ragtag group surprisingly well. 

Allura takes the cube along with them to the strategy room, where they try to decide on a plan for the next attack on Zarkon. As they start to discuss him, the cube immediately shifts to some dramatic classical music, which surprises everyone. Pidge is practically salivating. “Oh my god!” she says. “It is responding to the mood in the room! This is unprecedented technology!” “This is the ultimate Spotify!” counters Lance — he’s beside himself with excitement. Pretty soon, the serious strategy meeting devolves into a dance party. Pidge is bouncing around a bit self-consciously, Hunk is pop-and-locking crazily, Lance is dancing like his life depends on it, Keith is trying not to stare at Lance, and Shiro is spinning a red-faced Allura around. The mood in the room is happier than it has been in weeks, and the paladins go to sleep without thinking about how much they miss home that night. 


	2. I Think I'm In Love - Kat Dahlia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But I crave us huggin'  
> Yeah, I stay stubborn  
> 'Cause I can't admit that you got all the strings  
> And know just how to tug 'em
> 
> *gayness, sparring, and Klance*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Ygf4pGcjo  
> Obviously it helps if you know the song, so listen while you read!  
> Enjoy <3

“Morning,” grunts Lance, slamming his bowl of space goop down on the table. God, he wants coffee — he’d asked about it once, and Coran had presented Lance with a cup of something smelly and bright blue. Drinking a couple sips had kept Lance awake for three days and throwing up for at least a week, much to Coran’s chagrin. Since then, he hasn’t tried again, but he misses the morning routine of drinking a cup with his mother more than he would have imagined to be possible. The crankiness and headache brought on by homesickness and caffeine withdrawal are not helped by Keith’s annoyingly chipper entrance into the kitchen.  

“What’s wrong with you today?” Keith asks Lance, after greeting the other paladins. “Nothing!” he yelps. “Maybe I should be asking what’s wrong with your face!” Keith rolls his eyes (that is _not_ cute, Lance tells himself mentally). “My face is doing fine, thanks,” he starts. “At least it’s picking up alien girls” — Keith fake gasps, dramatically — “or did you not notice that yesterday because you were busy getting rejected by that four-foot-tall Oblaka girl?” “Shut up!” yells Lance. “You just can’t take the jealousy, Mullet. She was totally into me!” 

The paladins collectively roll their eyes in disbelief. “Sure she was, Lance,” Pidge giggles. “Did you decide that before or after she made a rain cloud follow you out of the market?” “Fine…” admits Lance. “But it’s not like Keith gets girls either!” “I don’t think Keith wants girls,” Pidge coughs into her hand, but she won’t repeat it when Lance asks. “It’s almost sad how Lance deludes himself,” says Keith, ready to start a full-fledged argument. He’s about to go on when Shiro slams his mug down on the table, startling everyone. “Enough!” he says. “It is too early for this.” Allura picks up his thought: they’ve become annoyingly in-sync and literally everyone on the ship has a bet on when they’ll admit they’re more than teammates. “I agree,” she says. “Today is not a busy day here; Coran and I will be working on ship upgrades so the rest of you are free to do whatever you want. We have survived many difficult battles lately and I wish to give everyone a day to rest and recuperate.”

Upon hearing this, Pidge and Hunk leave the room almost immediately: Pidge to do some work and Hunk to continue his long-lasting efforts to fabricate something in the kitchen that looks remotely like a cookie. Lance is about to leave the room when Allura exclaims, “Wait! I have an excellent idea. Keith, Lance, I think that you two should spar this morning. It is often helpful in working out arguments to fight physically.” Shiro frowns — he’s not sure if that’s how conflict resolution on Earth works, but he nods in support anyway. “Brilliant!” smiles Allura, pleased with herself. “Please take the music cube and try to work out some of your aggression.”

Keith frowns and is going to refuse, but he then he sees Shiro’s hopeful face. Literally everyone can tell that he’s got it so bad for Allura, and he kinda wants to leave them alone — maybe they’ll work out some _aggression_ too, he thinks, smirking. “C’mon, Lance,” he says. Lance seems reluctant, but he knows that a few well placed-insults will get him to leave the room. “You afraid, McClain?” he asks. “Don’t worry, the music cube might help to muffle the sounds of you getting your ass kicked…” Lance jumps up. “Let’s fucking go, Mullet,” he exclaims, earlier unwillingness forgotten. 

Ten minutes later, they’re standing in the training room. Keith has shed his jacket and is standing in a tight red t-shirt and black pants, which the training room provides to him when he enters. Lance is wearing a similar getup, but his t-shirt is blue. Both hold practice swords — they have dulled edges, but Lance knows from experience that they can still hurt like hell when they catch you in the face or hands. The music cube is standing off to one side, linked to their thoughts and playing dramatic battle music. The song almost undercuts the intensity of the mood in the room: it sounds vaguely like the soundtrack to some ten year-old’s video game, complete with random crescendoes, thumping battle-drums, and keening war-cries. The box seems to have a bit of a personality, and it’ll often play music that seems incongruous with the situation — once, when Lance and Keith were arguing, it played the loudest marching band song the paladins had ever heard, maybe in an attempt to drown them out. 

The music shifts to a new, lilting song, and Keith grins in spite of himself. He loves the moment before a fight: his world sharpens, his thoughts quiet, and a rush of energy fills him. It doesn’t hurt that he knows he’ll have the opportunity to shut Lance up for a bit. It’s not like he hasn’t sparred with Lance before — they’ve been paired for a ton of exercises before — but today, the tension is high in the air. Lance is standing across from him, a study in motion. His foot taps the ground and he’s swinging his sword back and forth. “Nervous, McClain?” asks Keith, grinning. “Uhhh, nervous that you’ll fall in love with me because I fight that good? Maybe.” Keith snorts. “It’s ‘fight that well,’ stupid,” he replies, then launches into motion without giving Lance a warning. 

Lance yelps, surprised, and parries his first thrust. Their swords thud against each other, ringing sharply in the otherwise empty room. Lance blows his hair out of his face and a grin splits his tanned face, then he swings his sword theatrically — and unnecessarily, Keith thinks — and moves on the offensive. Keith is surprised by how much he’s improved since they’ve been on the Castle: he must have been training when nobody else was in the room. Keith’s actually working to defend against Lance’s quick strikes, and he finds himself mildly distracted by the shift of Lance’s muscles under his shirt. _Damn it, Keith,_ he thinks, _you came here to win!_

With that in mind, he takes control of the fight again, coming at Lance with a series of sweeping maneuvers that send him dancing back across the training room floor. They’re surprisingly evenly matched: Keith is definitely more experienced, but Lance has better reach and he’s fast as hell. As he’s thinking about this, Lance ducks under Keith’s guard and scrapes his sword across Keith’s side. “First blood!” he crows, and the music cube responds happily, changing the music to some fast cacophony of drums that reinvigorates Keith, who swipes at Lance and catches him in the arm. Over the next few minutes, they spar back and forth across the room, ending up bruised and sweaty. There’s definitely no clear winner, though, and they’re both tiring. 

Lance is covered in sweat and aching. Suddenly, while defending against another attack, he remembers something he saw in a movie with his little cousin when he was about seven. He’d laughed at the time, but how he thinks it might just work. Lance runs forward and feints right, hoping that his maneuver won’t end in a sword to the face. Keith’s getting sloppy, but he still swings his sword to block, and Lance changes his direction as quickly as possible and tackles Keith. He slams into the left side of his body, knocking them both to the ground, and yanks Keith’s Galra knife from where it’s sheathed at his lower back. He holds the knife to Keith’s neck, and whispers “Dead, Mullet.” “That’s fucking cheating!” says Keith. “Is it?” asks Lance. “I won, I think you’re just _deluding yourself_ ” he smirks, echoing their conversation from earlier. Both of them are so caught up with fighting that they don’t notice the cube’s music has changed again. It starts to sing.

 

_My heart's pacin', I'm confused,_

_I'm dazin'_

_I saw something I never seen in you,_

_It's got me shakin’_

 

Lance’s knees are on either side of Keith’s legs, and one of his arms is braced beside Keith’s head. Keith is holding his other wrist — the one with the knife — and they’re both sweating. 

 

_I think I'm in love again_

_(in my head, yeah, you're in my head)_

_Baby, I think I'm in love again_

_I think I'm in love again_

_(in my head, yeah, you're in my head)_

 

Keith finds that Lance’s face is covered in freckles and that his skin is perfectly tanned — maybe his constant face masks really do help. Lance, on the other hand, is caught up with Keith’s eyes. He always thought they were a typical brown-black colour, but now that he’s up close he can tell that they’re actually a really deep violet, not the amethyst that’s always described in romance novels but a much deeper colour, and flecked with tiny pieces of gold. 

 

_I didn't think it could be true_

_Let alone that it would be you_

_I think I'm in love again_

_(I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love)_

 

The music cube continues, and Lance and Keith suddenly notice what it’s playing. “What the fuck are you doing?” yelps Lance, and Keith rolls out from under him and stands up, brushing out imaginary wrinkles from his shirt. “You were the one pinning me!” exclaims Keith, equally flustered. “Just so I could see how ugly you are up close!” yells Lance, but it sounds weak even to him. 

 

_Baby, I'm fallin',_

_I hope you catch me when I land_

 

“What are you thinking about?! Why is it playing this?” asks Keith. “Not anything like _that”_ says Lance, “only how happy I am that I won our fight, loser! The thing must be defective.” “Fuck you!” yells Keith — they’re standing about seven feet apart by now. 

 

_I say, "Fuck you," while I'm thinking of you as my husband_

 

“Jesus!” they yelp, almost simultaneously. “Somebody shut that motherfucker off!” says Lance, and it chokes out one last “ _I think I’m in love”_ before he stabs the power button on the side. If a cube of metal could seem smug, it’d be smug, thinks Keith. He half wants to jettison it out into space, but he opts to yell a couple of final insults at Lance and walk off. At least, he walks until he’s out of the room. The minute he’s sure Lance can’t see him, he sprints off as quickly as he can. Once he’s in his room, he _might_ blush slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun times with Klance! I just wanted to get this sparring idea outside of my head, and the next oneshot is coming soon. It'll probably be Hunay :)  
> Comments + kudos seriously make my day, and feel free to comment if you want me to write specific songs!


	3. Counting Stars - Augustana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Counting the stars  
> I'll be waiting 'til you're back in my arms  
> And I'll be waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting up  
> Counting the stars
> 
> *Hunay, cuteness, and literally everybody blushes at least once*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZmm_4uOuys  
> As usual, listen while you read. 
> 
> Enjoy <3

The paladins are grouped in a ragged circle around a long, pristine table in Allura’s strategy room.Several old maps are spread out across it: despite the advanced nature of Altean technology, King Alfor apparently had a passion for Earth-style paper drawings, so everybody has the pleasure of spending the morning staring at wrinkled ten-thousand year old papers. The maps are covered in Altean scrawl and show Galra trade routes, which they plan to attack (Pidge’s idea, of course). Nobody can really understand what the drawings say except Allura and Coran, and they’re arguing heatedly in Altean — which when spoken sounds like some horrible, guttural combination of German and alien. _Does it even have vowels?_ Hunk wonders. The paladins are pretty much idle: Shiro is staring at Allura — there’s practically cartoon hearts in his eyes — but it’s evident he can’t understand a word she’s saying. Lance and Keith appear to be play-sparring, which Hunk smiles at, and Pidge is writing English translations to the Altean on the maps carefully in the margins. 

All of a sudden, Allura and Coran seem to decide something, and Allura turns to everyone. Shiro shushes everybody, rather unnecessarily, and she begins to explain her idea. “Paladins, Coran and I have come to an agreement.” Coran frowns, appearing to disagree with this statement, but she continues anyway. “These maps, made by my father many decafeebs ago, are no longer reliable. We must attempt to collect newer information in order to implement Pidge’s plan, and we can do this by returning to Galra bases we have destroyed in order to find data left behind.” “But everything we fight blows up!” exclaims Lance, making endearing explosion noises. “Yes, that is true for the most part,” agrees Allura. “However, there is one place we freed that remains intact.” 

_Oh my god,_ thinks Hunk. “The Balmera planet!” he exclaims, suddenly happier than he’s been in weeks. “Ohhh yeah,” drawls Lance, smirking. “Hunk can go visit his girlfriend.” “Shut up!” yelps Hunk, too fast. A light blush colours his dark cheeks, and he doesn’t know what to say. Allura looks surprisingly interested. “Shiro tells me this is called gossip on Earth. Do you have a girlfriend, Hunk?” she asks. “What is her name?” “Ooooh, do you and Shiro gossip?” croons Lance, looking pleased. It’s Shiro’s turn to yelp “shut up!” 

Hunk feels totally overwhelmed. “I don’t have a girlfriend, Allura,” he says, still blushing slightly. “Her name is Shay, Allura,” says Keith, and he and Lance high-five happily. “That is very exciting, Hunk!” says Allura, clapping her hands girlishly. “Perhaps one day I shall also find love with an alien.” Shiro coughs, looking pale, and Pidge raises an eyebrow at him. “Anyway, this is besides the point,” she says. “We will be travelling to the Balmera planet immediately to salvage information from the ruins.” Hunk thinks she’s done — mercifully — but as she leaves the room, she turns around to grin at him. “Perhaps you will have a chance to see Shay!”

Keith and Lance leave the room together next, and Hunk _swears_ he sees their hands touch as they exit. Pidge snags her computer and explains that she’s going to do some work, leaving Hunk and Coran alone in the room. Coran walks over to Hunk rather earnestly, and pats him on the shoulder paternally. “If there is anything you wish to ask me, Hunk, you can.” He pauses, then says: “I imagine Altean machinery is similar to that of Earth, so I can explain things to you…” Hunk splutters, turning red. _Did Coran just try to give me_ the talk? he wonders. 

The embarrassment of that thought is just too much for him, and he leaves the room as fast as he can. Hunk heads to the kitchen, hoping that baking will calm his mind as it usually does. He pulls Altean ingredients from the cupboards and wonders if he’ll finally find the right combination of ingredients. He’s certainly tried to make cookies a lot of times before, but it’s only resulted in several disasters. His first scaultrite cookies were at least useful, but since then he’s come up with several biohazards. He’s succeeding in creating balls of _bright_ blue dough which caused the paladins to turn faintly turquoise for a couple days, green and brown slimy things which Lance joked looked like puréed Girl Scouts, and trays and trays of pink foam that nobody would even touch. _Maybe today will be the day,_ he thinks, optimistically. 

An hour later, he’s feeling like an absolute failure. The bowls in front of him hold a mixture that has the consistency, texture, and colour of sand, but worse, he doesn’t feel any calmer. He can’t stop thinking about Shay, and he doesn’t even feel _hungry,_ which is a travesty. He groans, knowing he’s being ridiculous, and decides to go talk to Lance. Who understands girl problems better?

He checks the training room log — Lance and Keith sparred earlier that day, apparently — then moves on to Lance’s room. When he knocks, Lance yelps “one second!” In considerably more than one second, the doorswishes open, and Hunk steps in to find Lance sitting on the bed and Keith perched uncomfortably on a chair near the entrance. _What the hell?_ wonders Hunk, but he’s in no position to think about other people’s love lives. “What’s up?” asks Lance. “I wanted to talk to you about Shay,” Hunk replies, bashfully. “I’m a little worried about seeing her again.” “Why?” says Keith, popping the collar of his jacket strangely. “Well,” starts Hunk, then figures he might as well say it all in one breath. “What if she doesn’t remember me? What if she’s fallen in love with a Balmeran? What if she’s eloped? What if she has kids? What if she’s _dead_?” _You’re spiralling, Garrett,_ he tells himself, but he can’t stop his torrent of words. 

“Whoaaa,” says Lance. “Easy there, bro. Lance always gets in the ladies’ pants” — he pauses to make finger guns — “and I can totally help you.” He flashes an unconvincing grin, and Hunk wonders what the hell he’s gotten himself into. “All you need is a couple well-placed pickup lines, and she’ll melt into your arms!” “Don’t listen to him, Hunk,” says Keith, but he’s grinning, an unfamiliar expression on his usually stoic face. “Ok, let’s start simple. Repeat after me!” _Oh no_ , thinks Hunk. “Say ‘you must work for NASA, because you’re out of this world!” starts Lance. “What?” asks Keith. “She’s a fucking alien, Lance. She’s not gonna know what NASA is!” “Shut up, Kogane,” says Lance. “Try ‘your lips might be lonely..would they like to meet mine?” He grins at Keith, and _oh my god_ , thinks Hunk, _is Keith blushing?_

Lance runs through about a hundred more terrible lines, from “you look ill, are you suffering from a lack of Vitamin ME?” to “girl, are those space pants, because that ass is outta this world”. Even Keith contributes. “Say ‘your parents must be thieves, because they stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes’,” he exclaims, proud of himself. “That’s so cheesy,” Lance groans, covering his face, but Hunk can tell he’s totally red behind his hands. “Well,” he says, deciding to cut his losses, “thanks, guys.” 

He returns to his room, paces, goes to the training room and paces, and goes to visit Yellow — and paces. Eventually, it’s night, buthe can barely sleep. Finally, at around six the next morning, Coran cheerfully knocks on each of their doors, announcing that they’re orbiting Balmera. “Suit up, paladins,” cries Allura, “and let’s go find some Galra data!” After she says that, the paladins are greeted with the most awkward sight they’ve ever seen: Shiro _almost_ goes in to hug her, but then thinks better of it and ends up whacking her on the back, red covering his face and ears. 

Eventually, everybody reaches their lions, and they guide them down to the surface, landing gently among the towering crystals which dot the planet’s surface. Almost immediately, Balmerans rush up to the surface to greet the lions, and Hunk has the pleasure of seeing a Balmeran child for the first time: it’s only about a half a metre tall, and has two tiny stone spikes sticking out of his head. _What if it’s Shay’s?_ he thinks, then mentally slaps himself. 

The paladins hop out of their lions and Allura descends gracefully from the Castle to greet the Balmeran leader. “Greetings, Balmerans,” she starts. “We require no gifts from the Balmera itself, but come only to attempt to recover Galra data.” “Whatever you need is yours,” rumbles the Balmera leader, deep voice practically shaking the ground. Hunk is scanning the crowd for Shay when suddenly what feels like a wall of stone tackles him from behind. 

“Hunk!” exclaims Shay, hugging him tightly (to the amusement of the other paladins). “I — we — missed you so much! I didn’t know when you’d come back!” Hunk is speechless — her eyes are luminous and he’s lost in them, but he knows it’ll be weird if he doesn’t say anything. He stammers a greeting messily, cringes at himself, and then gives up and decides to just hug Shay instead. 

Eventually, they break apart: Hunk is flushed red and Shay’s cheeks glow — that must be the Balmeran version of a blush, he thinks. The tiny Balmeran child is running happily through their feet, and Shay stops to pat its head gently. Allura heads off with the Balmeran chief to the Galra base, and Shiro and the rest of the paladins trail after her. Hunk frowns, thinking that he’ll have to leave Shay behind, but instead she opts to follow him. Before he can think about it he takes a deep breath and grabs her hand. _Ohmygod_ , he thinks, _we’re holding hands_. He wishes he wasn’t wearing gloves. 

Fifteen minutes later, they arrive at the wrecked Galra base. It’s dark and dusty, but the computers still look pretty intact, and Pidge gets to work trying to download data from them. The next six or seven hours are spent painstakingly combing all the buildings for something useful. The Balmeran sky has darkened by the time the paladins reconvene, dusty and tired. 

The trip hasn’t been in vain, though: Lance and Keith each carry a pile of maps, Pidge is tapping away at her laptop, and Hunk himself has found some kind of pile of Galra USB sticks. Allura is delighted, and she swings her arm around Shiro’s shoulder — much more smoothly than he managed that morning. He flushes bright red and drops a Galra tablet on his foot. Shay giggles melodically. “Does he love her?” she whispers, into Hunk’s ear. Her breath is warm, and Hunk has to muster most of his mental willpower in order to respond coherently. “It’s easy to tell, eh?” he replies, and Shay nods. Hunk wonders if it’s easy to tell with him and Shay. 

The paladins are led back to the main Balmera settlement and descend underground. In the interest of diplomacy, they’ve decided to spend the night on the planet before continuing their journey tomorrow, and are all ensconced in comfortable if small rooms. Each has a bed with soft, woven covers, a glowing crystal light, and a small basin for washing up. The paladins eat with the Balmera — or try to eat, most of their food seems to be composed of grubs, and everyone is slightly terrified. Eventually, they drift back to their rooms, and Hunk bids a quick goodnight to Shay before heading off to bed. 

There’s no clock in Hunk’s room, but he knows he’s been tossing and turning for several hours. Sleep just won’t come, and Shay’s face fills his thoughts. Eventually, he gives up and snags his blanket, deciding to head up to the surface to get some fresh air. He settles down on a stone ledge and leans back, looking at the Balmeran sky. All of a sudden, a soft voice interrupts his introspection. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Shay asks. Hunk jumps, startled, then shifts over on the rock to give her space to sit. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asks. “Didn’t want to,” she replies, making his stomach flip. “I heard you leave your room, and we have so little time to spend together.” 

Hunk grins, hoping that the shining crystals which cover the landscape don’t provide enough light to illuminate his blush. “I missed you so much,” he starts, hoping he’s not pushing it. “Indeed,” replies Shay, “I felt as though a part of me was gone.” _God,_ thinks Hunk, _what do I say to that_? Instead of replying, he wraps his blanket around Shay as well, and the pair spends the rest of the night staring up at the stars, alternating between discussing their lives and lying in companionable silence. 

Eventually morning comes, and the sun finds them lying asleep on their rock. Hunk wakes up first — his neck has a huge crick in it, and a rock is unsurprisingly not the most comfortable place to spend the night. Shay doesn’t seem uncomfortable, though — her body is curled around his, and she’s sleeping peacefully. Hunk takes the opportunity to try to memorize her face — its sharp planes are beautiful, and he never wants to forget it. He realizes eventually that the paladins must be wondering where he’s disappeared to, and he shakes Shay’s shoulder gently. 

She opens her eyes slowly, stretching like a cat, and sits up. She presses a soft kiss to Hunk’s cheek, leaving him blushing, then jumps gracefully off the rock and holds out her hand. She lifts him down easily and leads him inside. 

Lance is already awake when they come inside, and he gives Hunk the biggest shit-eating grin he’s ever seen. “Have a good night?” he croons at Lance, and Hunk’s trying to formulate some clever response when Shay steps in front of him, still holding his hand. “We certainly did, Lance,” she smiles, apparently not understanding his innuendo. Lance cocks an eyebrow and smiles, but doesn’t tease the duo any further. 

Allura and Shiro enter the room together, and she announces that the paladins must leave quickly so they can begin decoding the Galra information. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to say goodbye,” she says, looking pointedly at Hunk and Shay. Hunk waits for the other paladins to leave the room — Lance smirks at him and Pidge wiggles her eyebrows — then turns to Shay. 

He smiles at her, trying to think of something encouraging to say, then notices suddenly that she’s crying, golden tracks of liquid covering her cheeks. _Oh no_ , he thinks again. “Hunk,” she cries, “I want to come with you.” “I don’t want you to come!” he blurts, then registers the surprise on her face. “Oh no!” he stammers, “not like that. I just mean that it’s very dangerous and I wouldn’t want you to be injured.” “Dangerous?” exclaims Shay. “What if you die and I lose you?” _Oh no,_ Hunk thinks, _again._ His internal monologue is basically just a constant stream of ohnohnohno at this point, actually. “Ssh,” he says, drawing his thumb across her cheek gently. “Nothing will happen to me, I promise.” She’s still crying, hard, and Hunk _hears_ Lance’s voice in his head, saying “just grow some balls, dude”. With that motto in mind, he thinks _fuck it_ and kisses her. 

Shay’s trembling under his hands as he wraps a hand around her back and caresses her face with the other. She seems surprised, but she’s returning the kiss eagerly, biting his lower lip gently. Hunk doesn’t want the kiss to heaten, though — he doesn't have much time. Shay breaks it off first, and seems to remember something. “Wait here!” she exclaims, and dashes off. Hunk does wait, holding a hand dumbly over his mouth and blushing like an idiot. _There_ are _stars in her eyes,_ he thinks stupidly, remembering Keith’s pickup line from earlier. 

A few minutes later, Shay returns, holding a tiny, rolled-up piece of canvas, maybe the size of her hand. She runs up to him eagerly and unfolds it, revealing a miniature painting of some sky. “I did this shortly after we were released from Galra slavery,” she explains. “I had never seen the sky before and I thought it the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I purchased the materials from a trader.” 

“It’s amazing,” whispers Hunk, honestly. She is clearly talented — the stars seem to float from the page and the sky is painted not just in black but in a cacophony of blues and greens and purples. “I would like you to have it,” she explains, softly. “I know that your stars change every day, but I hope you will look at this and know that I am looking at this sky too, thinking of you.” Hunk nearly cries — he _knows_ he’s a hopeless romantic, but this is hardcore stuff. He’s watched so many stupid rom-coms, but he still has no words for that. “There are stars in your eyes too,” he breathes, hoping he doesn’t sound stupid, then reaches in and kisses her gently. 

They break apart reluctantly — Hunk is seriously late now. He sprints up to the surface, still holding Shay’s hand, and kisses her briefly once more, ignoring the paladins’ hoots. “I will count these stars every night.” Hunk whispers, holding the rolled-up painting, then climbs into his lion. He’s _not_ crying, he tells himself, but that doesn’t help much, 

Hunk returns to the ship quietly and the other paladins give him some space, although Lance pats him on the back and tells him to come to his room for a Beyoncé party later. Keith gives him a sad look — Hunk notices that he’s standing even closer to Lance than normal — and Allura looks upset for him too. Hunk had always thought that romance novels’ descriptions of life after love were excessive — how could the world be colourless? Now he understands, though: everything just seems kind of pointless, and even food doesn’t interest him. He just wants to see Shay. 

Eventually, he decides that he has to stop moping around. He snags the music cube from where it stands in the strategy room, planning to head to Lance’s room. Beyoncé _always_ cheers him up. On the way, though, he notices a staircase he’s never seen before. It turns out to lead to a beautiful nook that he’s never seen before — a huge window extends at least four metres upwards and two metres in either direction. The space is obviously meant for observation — an assortment of mismatched benches stand on the floor, and the lights in the room are soft and don’t detract from the beauty of the stars. It’s the first thing Hunk’s seen on the castle that’s cosy and not streamlined, and he takes a seat in one of the chairs to look out at the stars. He pulls Shay’s painting out of his pocket, and the music cube starts a song, completely of its own accord. Hunk frowns at it, wanting to sit in silence, but then he hears what it’s playing.

 

_And I'm watching the hours_

_Looking for reasons_

_Find that I'm missing every beat of your heart_

_'Til you're back in my arms,_

_I'll be waiting up, counting the stars_

_Counting the stars…_

 

It starts to sing, and Hunk leans back against the bench. He stares out at the stars outside — wishing they didn’t change so frequently — then looks back at Shay’s painting. He touches a finger to the constellation in the centre, which the Balmera call “The Hero”. It’s outlined in silver paint. There’s whole legends surrounding it — how the Balmeran sketched in the stars would save their race and the galaxy. Hunk thinks it looks like Shay. He touches the tip of his finger to the drawing and kisses it gently. 

 

_Nothing could ever touch us_

_Nothing gonna shake my faith_

_Nothing in this big, bad world will ever take you away_

_Like a rolling hurricane_

_Nothing's standing in our way_

_Full of life, full of grace, in a perfect place_

 

Hunk makes a promise to himself, right there, that he’s going to come back to Shay. He doesn’t care if he has to slit Zarkon’s throat singlehandedly, he _will_ see her again, he pledges, rather violently. 

Hunk closes his eyes and listens to the song.

_Suddenly I'm caught in your light_

_Opened the door, and you stepped inside_

_And I'm watching the hours_

_Looking for reasons_

_Find that I'm missing every beat of your heart_

_'Til you're back in my arms,_

_I'll be waiting up, counting the stars_

 

Hunk never makes it to Lance’s promised dance party. He sits on that bench for hours, looking at the changing sky. Every day after that, he comes back to the nook, kisses the painting, and thinks of Shay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, thank y'all for all the nice comments I've gotten so far! Keep leaving what songs you want me to write below (there WILL be BTS at some point, I swear) and I'll add them to my list.  
> Next chapter should be up soon (idk what ship yet though!)
> 
> Leave kudos if you liked this! :)


	4. Bad Religion - Frank Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This unrequited love  
> To me it's nothing but  
> A one-man cult  
> And cyanide in my styrofoam cup  
> I could never make him love me  
> Never make him love me  
> Love, love...
> 
> *Klance, unrequited love (or is it?), and sadness*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzvxsiIpep8 (I'm sorry it's live!)  
> You know the drill - listen as you read!
> 
> Enjoy <3

“Left! Left!” screams Shiro, his earlier focus destroyed in the heat of battle. “They’re on your tail, Hunk!” shouts Lance, jerking his lion right in an effort to avoid more incoming beams of purple light. “C’mon, guys,” shrieks Pidge, sending vines flying at Galra ships left and right. “I need an opening! If I don’t get closer, I can’t do this!” “How close, Pidge?” yells Keith in reply. “At maximum ten feet from the mothership’s main dock! My robot doesn’t have a transport system for space. I need to shoot it directly inside so it can deploy my code and send info back to us.” Her explanation is cut short by a loud bang and Lance flies a loop-de-loop in front of the paladins, howling. “Take that, motherfucker!” he screams, watching a line of Galra ships explode soundlessly. 

None of the paladins are exactly sure where they are: the fight is taking place in empty space near some random, abandoned planet. Allura had received information that a major commander in Zarkon’s army and several other ships would be flying through this area, but the tip had severely underestimated the number of fighter ships accompanying the commander and the paladins were finding themselves horribly overwhelmed. 

“Behind you, Keith!” yells Lance, and Keith swings around just in time to find a gigantic Galra fighter roaring towards him. Before he can react, Lance’s lion crashes into the ship, all four legs extended. “Yippie ki-yay, asshole,” he screams, and tears the ship in half. “Don’t quote Die Hard at me!” says Keith heatedly, but Lance is already flying away. The whole team is trying to bludgeon a path for Pidge and her virus, but it’s proving near-impossible: the Galra are fighting like a swarm of wasps, swirling and reforming into different arrangements constantly. Shiro says as much, and he’s met with noises of agreement from the other paladins. Everybody’s tiring, and the Galra are pushing back towards the Castle. Even though Allura’s hitting back as hard as she can, they’re still fighting an uphill battle. “We have to do something!” shouts Hunk, swerving to avoid a giant blast. 

“Well,” yells Lance, “you know what you do with wasps? You swat them!” Without further ado, he sends his lion flying forward, breaking rank with the other four. Everyone just sits there for a second, utterly stunned. Lance is moving like the wind itself, tearing through the ranks. The paladins realize what he’s doing all at once: he’s tunnelling a tiny path through the Galra ranks for Pidge to follow, flying better than he ever has. All of a sudden, everybody bursts into action: Hunk and Keith fall back to defend the castle, Shiro follows Pidge as backup, and the green lion bursts forwards.

They barely need to do anything, though. Lance is flying as if possessed, clearing ship after ship singlehandedly, and Pidge follows behind him easily. Relatively quickly, they’re close enough to the ship for her liking, and she jettisons her tiny robot cargo easily — it floats into the Galra dock and rolls off. Pidge and Lance both yell in triumph and spiral off in either direction. In fact, they’re both so caught up in celebration that Lance doesn’t notice the Galra ship coming up on his tail. It’s bigger than most of the other fighters and carries a tiny ion cannon on its back. Shiro shouts a warning, but Lance turns only quickly enough to watch the giant purple beam smash into his cockpit. Immediately, his comms go silent, and his lion is thrown backwards, light fading from its eyes. 

“Lance?” shouts Allura, but she’s met with silence. “You need to get him out of there, now!” she orders everyone, and the lions surge forward. If they were overwhelmed with Lance fighting, though, now they’re absolutely swamped. Shiro and Pidge get pushed back quickly, and the blue lion is only hanging dead in space, taking hits constantly. “Get him out!” Allura flat out screams, and there’s more panic in her voice than anybody has heard in a long time. 

Suddenly, the red lion bursts through the lines of ships. If Lance had flown like the wind, Keith flies like fire, destroying anything in his path without ceremony. Shiro and Pidge are doing everything they can to help, but their flying skills simply don’t parallel that of Keith’s. Eventually, he reaches Lance and snags his lion by its scruff. _I guess that’s how a giant robot killer space lion mom would grab her kid,_ thinks Shiro. The next few minutes are a blur as the paladins return to the Castle and they hurriedly wormhole away. 

Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk jump out of their lions and run towards Lance’s, but Keith is already standing in front of it, looking panicked. Blue deposits Lance very softly in front of them — she’s come back to life, but Lance is still gone. He lands slumped on the floor.

It’s not a pretty sight. Blood runs from his ears and nose, and his face looks bruised. Everyone stares at him for a minute, surprised by how vulnerable he looks. “Bring him to the healing pods!” shouts Allura over the intercom, and they snap out of their trance. 

Before Shiro can step forward to pick up Lance, Keith has already grabbed him. Despite Lance being taller and likely heavier than him, Keith is _running_ towards the room with the pods, hefting Lance easily. _He’s probably on straight adrenaline,_ thinks Shiro, and jogs off after Keith, concerned.

A too-long run later, Keith passes Lance off to Allura. She loads him into a healing pod as quickly as possible and gives the pod instructions, and it closes around him, leaving his face expressionless. He’d look almost peaceful if not for the bruises covering his face: even Pidge isn’t sure how the ion cannon works, but it has devastating effects on creatures of every species, destroying ships as well as causing internal bleeding. 

The healing pod beeps and spits out a list of diagnostics, written in Altean. Despite their inability to comprehend the language, the paladins all crowd around it, and Allura translates haltingly. “It says it hit him at very close range. He’s got significant internal haemorrhaging and a cracked rib.” Keith feels sick. “What are his chances?” “Not good. It estimates a 46 percent chance of survival.” 

The paladins are all pale, early victory replaced by an awful sense of dread. Allura seems close to a breakdown, but she visibly collects herself, straightening her spine and clenching her jaw. “Get some sleep,” she says, more of an order than a suggestion. “His healing will not be sped by us standing here, and you must rest before our next battle.” “Somebody’s going to watch him, though, right?” asks Keith, slightly panicked. “No need. The healing pod will monitor his vitals and send us an alert should he require any attention.”

Shiro can almost see Keith pale — the blood drains from his already almost colourless face, leaving him looking ghostly. “I want to stay with him, just in case,” says Keith, ignoring Pidge and Hunk’s glance at each other. “I will not stop you, but I suggest you sleep,” replies Allura.

Keith takes a seat at the base of Lance’s pod as the other paladins leave the room. Then he gets up and stares at Lance. Then he walks laps around the room. Then he sits down and tries to sleep. Then he gets back up and looks at the Altean diagnostics scrolling across the screen, wishing he could read them. Then he notices his leg is bleeding and shucks his heavy armour, which he’d forgotten about. 

He bandages his leg with a strip from his undershirt, leaving him clothed in a tight black shirt and black leggings. He sits down again, trying to ignore how the Altean messages are flashing across the screen faster and faster. He’s not a religious person, but he puts up a quick prayer to any god that might be listening. 

They’d had a huge fight earlier, and Keith’s unable to chase away the thought that Lance might die without ever hearing how much he means to him. _I don’t even remember what the fight was about,_ ruminates Keith. They’d disagreed over something stupid at breakfast, and then it had turned into a giant, vicious thing, and Keith had said some really awful things. He regrets every part of that now, but what if it’s too late?

Several hours later, Keith jerks awake. He’d finally fallen asleep sitting on the floor staring at Lance, and had slumped over uncomfortably. There’s a huge crick in his neck, and his right arm feels like it’ll never wake up. Lance hasn’t stirred, and the Altean words are still flying across the pod. Keith resigns himself to a long day of waiting and tries to settle down in a more comfortable position. 

Another few hours later, the pod beeps. _Ohmygod_ , thinks Keith, suddenly nauseous. _What if that means he’s gone? That it couldn’t help?_ Instead, the door of the pod swooshes open. The thing was obviously designed to be used with somebody constantly attending it, because Lance falls forward, straight into Keith’s arms. _God,_ thinks Keith. He’d always thought that that inevitable moment in romance movies where the hero catches the heroine dramatically in his arms was fucking stupid, but right then he feels pretty damn romantic. 

The romance is shattered immediately when Lance twists out of his arms and throws up all over the floor. “Jesus!” yells Keith. “What the fuck!” Lance looks like he has some retort, but he leans over again, retching, and resorts to flipping him off weakly. Keith’s annoyance at having vomit splashed on his pristine boots is dissolved by how wretched Lance looks. He’s obviously alive — Keith feels a surge of relief — but his face is greenish under his tan, and he seems to have lost weight, even though it’s been less than a day. “Shit, dude,” Keith says eloquently. “Should we put you back in that thing?” “S’fine,” chokes Lance. “Just feeling” — he retches — “a little sick.” 

Keith moves over to him carefully, rubbing his back as he coughs. Finally, Lance straightens up. He looks like absolute hell. “Ghhhhhhh,” he says, “I feel like I got hit by a fucking truck. No, scratch that. An army of trucks.” Keith nods in sympathy, then swings Lance’s arm around his neck, partially supporting him. He doesn’t protest. “C’mon. Let’s get you some sleep.”

A long walk later, made longer by Lance needing breaks, they’re standing in the corridor that houses both the blue and red paladin rooms. Keith comms the paladins to let them know that Lance is okay but he needs to rest, and they respond with relief. Lance is practically asleep on his feet, but he’s still coughing pretty frequently and Keith is concerned. “Fuck this,” he says. “You’re going to come with me so I can keep an eye on you.” “Ooh, taking me to your room already?” asks Lance, but he’s so tired he doesn’t even make finger guns. 

A minute later, Keith buzzes open his door and half-walks, half-carries Lance over to his bed. Lance lies down carefully — apparently his ribs are still killing — and shuts his eyes, passed out. Keith works the blanket out from under him, covering him gently. He then snags a clean t-shirt and loose pants and heads to the bathroom next door.

A half-hour later, he re-enters the room. His hair is wet and half tied-up, the slice on his leg is neatly bound, and he’s even commandeered some pain meds and food from Allura. He forces Lance to wake up and take a couple painkillers, but he falls immediately back to sleep without saying a word to Keith. 

_Shit,_ thinks Keith. He’d been so focused on getting Lance comfortable that he hadn’t really thought about where he himself would sleep. He rolls his eyes at the bed, where Lance, even in his pain-induced sleep, has spread out, a tangle of long, tanned limbs. Eventually, he decides _fuck it_ and curls up next to Lance. 

Despite the weariness tugging at him, he still can’t sleep. He squirms around for a bit, and finally flips over to look at the boy in his bed. Safe in the knowledge that Lance is dead asleep, he draws his thumb gently along his cheek, staring at his freckles. Because Lance’s eyes are shut, he can see his long eyelashes, which curl gently and are tipped in a much lighter brown. “You’re pretty,” whispers Keith, then kicks himself for it. _Get over it, Kogane,_ he tells himself. For the moment, though, he allows himself to just enjoy memorizing Lance’s face. 

Keith thinks of a song he heard the music cube play earlier. The lyrics spill through his mind. 

 

_This unrequited love_

_To me it's nothing but a one-man cult_

_And cyanide in my Styrofoam cup_

_I can never make him love me_

 

“I thought you were dead,” he continues, spilling his deepest thoughts to the sleeping Lance. The dark makes Keith feel less vulnerable somehow: like whatever he says will be gone when light comes. “I thought I’d lost you and I’d never tell you that I actually care about you.” Keith’s voice cracks lightly, the stress and fear of the last couple days catching up to him all at once. 

“I know we’re just enemies, but you can’t leave me. I need you.” Keith _might_ be crying slightly, but the forgiving night and Lance’s even breath envelop his words. “We’ve fought so much and said so many things and I regret all of them,” he sighs. “And I know I talk like I hate you, and sometimes I do, but I’ve liked you for so long, Lance. One of us is probably going to die before I tell you that because I know you’ll never feel like that, but I’m going to tell you all of this while you’re passed out on whatever meds you have and then I’m going to move the fuck on, okay?” Keith’s voice is soft in the darkened room and Lance shifts slightly. 

 

_I can never make him love me_

_Never make him love me_

_Love me_

_Love me_

_Love me_

_Love me_

 

“You know what would happen if you died?” he whispers, as quietly as he can. “I’d miss your smile. I’d miss your eyes. I’d miss your laugh. I’d miss your pickup lines. I’d miss your stupid fucking finger guns.” Keith smiles into the night at that one. His tiredness is making him almost dizzy but it feels so good to get this all off his chest, to say everything he knows Lance will never hear, straight to his sleeping face. 

“I’d miss more than that though. I’d miss how selfless you are in battle. I’d miss how you always clean Blue after a fight. I’d miss how unbelievably kind you are to every alien we meet. I’d miss how you risk your own life to save those of people you’ve never met. I’d miss how good you are with kids. I’d miss you, Lance.” Keith stops talking, shocked at what he’s just said. It flowed out of him easily, though: words that have been on the tip of his tongue for ages, words that he’s never said. 

 

_This unrequited love_

_To me it's nothing but_

_A one-man cult_

 

_Whatever,_ he thinks, _might as well go for it_. “And you know what else? Pidge would miss the way you treat her like a little sister. Hunk would miss the way you’re never too afraid to try one of his kitchen creations. Shiro would miss the way you _always_ have the right jokes to calm everyone down in battle. Allura would miss the way you’re never too tired to train with us. Coran would miss the way you include him in everything you can. We’d all miss you Lance, so much, and nobody ever tells you that, but somebody should. But that somebody won’t be me.”

 

_It's a bad religion_

_To be in love with someone_

_Who could never love you_

_Only bad_

_Only bad religion_

_Could have me feeling the way I do_

 

He finishes his whispered speech: everything he’s always wanted to tell Lance but never has, every repressed thought that he’s had over the past several months in space. All of a sudden, tiredness rushes over him like smoke — now that he’s told Lance every reason why he likes him — loves him — he feels absolutely drained. Sleep claims Keith quickly. 

In fact, Keith falls into darkness so fast that he doesn’t see Lance crack an eye open. Doesn’t feel him brush a finger over his cheek. Doesn’t hear him start to whisper in return. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm so sorry about this chapter because I sat down to write happy Shallura but instead I came up with this mess :(  
> I assure you that happier chapters are coming (drunk paladin karaoke, anyone?)  
> You guys have been super sweet with commenting/kudos and it means way more to me than you know, so thank you!!
> 
> As usual, comment what songs you'd like me to my list below! Feel free to suggest a particular ship (although I don't write shaladin stuff) and/or a prompt as well!
> 
> Next chapter will be here eventually, peace out :)


	5. paladin party (assorted songs)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Black Eyed Peas - Let's Get it Started  
> 2\. Beautiful Liar - Beyonce/Shakira  
> 3\. War of Hormone - BTS  
> 4\. Bailando - Enrique Iglesias
> 
> *drunk paladins, karaoke, truth and dare, keith can _dance_ *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too many songs to bother linking here.   
> Enjoy <3

Pidge guides her lion neatly into its hangar, ensuring she doesn’t scrape its sides. The paladins have just won an epic battle, taking down one of Zarkon’s huge ships and freeing several hundred alien slaves from captivity. Their adrenaline is still running high, and Pidge can hear Lance yelping about some epic shot he made over the intercom. She docks her lion, which powers down with a whoosh, and hops out, stretching her sore legs. As she starts to head back to her room, a voice comes over the intercom. “Congratulations!” Allura exclaims, sounding pleased. “Please shower and change then convene in the main living room. I have a surprise for you, in light of your recent victory.” Curious, the battered five head back to their rooms. 

About an hour later, everybody trails into the living room. Allura has obviously put some effort into arranging it: instead of the usual streamlined, organized couches, the room is filled with old sofas and cushions, which look comfortable if threadbare. “Sit down!” she exclaims, clasping her hands. “I wished to reward you all for your successes in the fight against Zarkon. I have procured a considerable amount of space juice” — she gestures at a table holding flutes of slightly shiny pinkish liquid — “I believe you refer to it on Earth as alcohol. I also feel it would significantly improve my knowledge of Earthen culture if you educated me on how to play typical party games.” Allura looks like a little kid — her eyes are shining as she plops down on a couch next to Shiro. She’s even made the effort to change from her usual regal attire into a soft pair of pants and a t-shirt, probably the Altean equivalent of pajamas. 

The only person who is more excited than Allura is Lance: he’s never one to pass up a party. “C’mon!” he exclaims, jumping up. He snags glasses of Altean alcohol off the table and hands them out to everybody, then takes a sip himself. “Jesus!” he yelps, “what the hell is in this stuff? This is so strong!” The other paladins are finding the same thing, but Allura knocks back her glass like it’s water. “This should be an…interesting night,” muses Hunk, observing how Shiro already can’t take his eyes off Allura, and how Lance is just a little too focused on watching Keith drink. The paladins knock back a couple shots each, and Lance can feel the ridiculously powerful Altean alcohol starting to take effect. 

“We need music!” cries Lance, and commandeers the music cube from Allura. He turns it on and it starts _blasting_ The Black Eyed Peas _._ “Crappy 2000s pop,” smirks Keith, “I’m not surprised.”

_Let's get it started in here..._

_And the bass keeps runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin',_

Lance clicks the volume down a couple notches and tosses back some more of his drink. “Sooo, Allura,” he grins. “You were talking about Earth party games? Want us to teach you how to play truth or dare?” “Of course!” laughs Allura, looking more relaxed than anybody has ever seen her. “Okay, so,” says Lance. “Basically, you ask somebody ‘truth or dare,’ and they pick.” “If they pick truth, you have to ask them a question, probably something kind of personal,” adds Hunk. “And if they say ‘dare,’ you have to tell them to do some physical thing,” finishes Pidge. “Get it?” Allura nods.   

_Cause when we beat out, girl it's pulling without._

_You wouldn't believe how we wow shit out._

_Burn it till it's burned out._

_Turn it till it's turned out._

_Act up from north, west, east, south._

“Okay, I’ll go first,” says Lance. He pauses, considering. “Hunk, truth or dare?” “That’s dumb, bro,” laughs Hunk. “You already know everything about me, but let’s try truth.” “Okay,” smirks Lance. “Are you actually into Shay?” Hunk blushes. “N-no!” he stammers. Lance rolls his eyes. “Okay, Allura, another rule: you have to be truthful when you do this! Try again, Hunk.” Hunk finishes his drink. “Maybe a little,” he admits, and Lance raises his arms in victory. 

“My turn,” says Hunk. “Allura, truth or dare?” Allura smiles. “Dare!” she exclaims, never one to pass up a challenge. “Hmm,” says Hunk, thinking. “So many dares require Earth knowledge.” He thinks for a minute more. “Chug that entire glass” — he points at a tall glass of some clear Altean drink — “in less than ten seconds.” Allura looks disapproving. “Hunk, that is not difficult,” she says reproachfully, but she gets up and drinks the entire glass in less than three seconds — Pidge times it — apparently unaffected by the strong alcohol. 

She sits back down, smiling. “My turn now! Keith, truth or dare?” Keith is sitting on the couch, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “Uhh, truth?” Allura claps her hands. “That is what I had hoped you would pick!” Keith looks nervous. “Keith, would you enjoy having sexual intercourse with Lance?” 

The entire room goes silent, then everybody erupts simultaneously. Hunk and Pidge scream with laughter, clutching each other. Shiro laughs loudly, then leans down to explain to Allura why that’s not the kind of question you ask. Keith practically combusts, going red from the tips of his ears to his chest. Lance himself jumps up squawking, and grabs the music cube. “Karaoke time, guys? Definitely karaoke time!” Everyone pretends to ignore how his ears are crimson.  

Lance fumbles with the cube for a second, then the opening strains of Beyoncé drift through the room. “C’mon, Hunk,” he yells. “We kill this song!” Hunk gets up obligingly. 

_[Beyonce] [Lance] He said I'm worth it, his one desire_

_[Shakira] [Hunk] I know things about 'em that you wouldn't wanna read about_

_[Beyonce] [Lance] He kissed me, his one and only, (yes) beautiful Liar_

_[Shakira] [Hunk] Tell me how you tolerate the things that you just found out about_

The two have obviously done the song before, because they play off each other perfectly, Hunk hitting amazingly high notes and Lance dancing around with abandon. The song finishes, and Hunk andLance bow to the applause of the paladins. “Hmm, what song next?” wonders Lance. “I bet you Keith can’t sing.” Keith is insulted. “I can sing!” he exclaims. “Shiro knows!” Keith presses a couple buttons on the cube while Shiro gets up slightly embarrassedly, drinking the rest of his drink and explaining something to Allura quietly. 

Keith is obviously somewhat drunk: normally he’d never agree to karaoke with the paladins. _If luck’s on my side, they’ll never remember this tomorrow,_ he thinks. He presses the play button on the stereo. Lance had thought that his Beyoncé was playing loudly, but BTS _screams_ from the speakers — he is legitimately concerned that it will shatter the Castle’s windows and suck them all out into space. _Will K-pop be the death of me?_ he wonders. 

Keith and Shiro drop into obviously choreographed dance moves. Keith sings the first verse in Korean, obviously, but Shiro dutifully takes over the English parts. 

_I’ll be in panic I’ll be a fan_

_And I’ll be a man of you you you you babe_

The two are actually pretty great dancers, and they’ve spent a ton of time perfecting the routine.  

_Jakkuman nuni doragane yeojadeurui bae (Yup)_

_Yeojadeureun bangjeongsik uri namjadeureun hae (Yup)_

_Ttam ppilppil gwaenhi bilbildaege dwae_

_Deo manhi jom sineojwo haihilhil_

_((My eyes keep turning when I see the women's stomach, yup._

_Woman are the equation, the men do it, yup._

_I keep sweating and wishing._

_Please wear more high heels, heels.))_

 Half the paladins didn’t know that Keith spoke Korean, so his rapping is a huge surprise. When Keith whispers “yes, I’m a bad boy, so I like bad girls” he focuses straight on Lance, raising an eyebrow seductively then returning to his dance. Keith and Shiro finish the rest of the song together, grinning, and when they flop down in their seats (to uproarious applause) they’re covered in sweat. A few more paladins sing some stuff — it’s discovered that Pidge literally cannot sing Happy Birthday on key — but the conversation in the room turns sillier and sillier as the alcohol supplies diminish.

Eventually, Lance hops up and snags the cube again. “We haven’t danced yet!” he exclaims. “We need to dance!” He’s stumbling over his feet slightly, but he still manages to flip the cube on. Enrique Iglesias’ voice drifts from the speaker.

_Yo te miro, se me corta la respiración_

_Cuando tu me miras se me sube el corazón_

_(Me palpita lento el corazon)_

_Y en silencio tu mirada dice mil palabras_

_La noche en la que te suplico que no salga el sol_  

Lance can’t help himself. He’s already rocking back and forth on his heels, but the stupidly strong Altean alcohol and the familiar music and the generally happy atmosphere of the room combine and he’s pulling Keith to his feet, swirling him around in a practiced spin. The paladins grin, expecting to see him trip on his feet or blush: but apparently, they’ve forgotten Keith can _fight_ , and dancing is really not that different. Keith — although drunk — responds easily to Lance’s advances, walking deliberately backwards, swaying his hips, then moving forward into Lance. The paladins cheer, and Pidge laughs (slightly too loudly) from her place on the floor. 

Lance is surprised by Keith’s dancing talent, but he guesses he’s already seen some pretty sick moves during Keith’s k-pop karaoke.  

_Con tu física y tu química también tu anatomía_

_La cerveza y el tequila y tu boca con la mía_

_Ya no puedo mas (ya no puedo mas)_

_Ya no puedo mas (ya no puedo mas)_

Keith swirls around Lance, leading their impromptu tango thing surprisingly gracefully, especially considering how much alcohol he’s consumed. He grinds his hips against Lance’s lightly, and is rewarded when a light blush touches Lance’s cheeks.   

_Yo quiero estar contigo, vivir contigo_

_Bailar contigo, tener contigo_

_Una noche loca (una noche loca)_

_Ay besar tu boca (y besar tu boca)_

_Yo quiero estar contigo, vivir contigo_

Allura and Shiro had left a few songs ago: with Allura clutching his hand and giggling and Shiro looking slightly dazed. However, as the song continues, their dance intensifies. By the fifth or sixth verse, Keith has wrapped a leg around Lance’s and is grinding, obviously totally wasted. Hunk and Pidge are giggling, but decide they should probably slip out before things get more R-rated. 

_Tu me miras y me llevas a otra dimensión_

_(Estoy en otra dimensión)_

_Tus latidos aceleran a mi corazón_

_(Tus latidos aceleran a mi corazón)_

_Que ironía del destino no poder tocarte_

_Abrazarte y sentir la magia de tu olor_

Keith is completely pressed up against Lance, but both are so drunk — on the Altean alcohol and on each other — that nobody really cares. Their dancing has dissolved into swaying, and that’s when Lance leans down and claims Keith’s mouth with his own. 

***

_The next morning:_

Lance rolls over in his bed, then registers that it is not actually his bed. In fact, it’s Keith’s bed, which he only discovers when he finds Keith lying next to him, also shirtless. “ _Aaah!_ ” he yelps. Keith reciprocates as soon as he wakes up. “What the hell happened?” asks Lance. “I don’t know!” Keith exclaims, “but maybe you can explain these!” He pulls the bedsheets down to reveal a neat line of hickeys down his neck. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay but if you've seen that scene in brooklyn nine-nine where Charles and Gina wake up and _scream_ then picture that for Lance and Keith waking up together ;)
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos so far and make sure to:  
> \-- comment songs and ships you want me to write  
> \-- check out my other works   
> \-- hmu on twitter!
> 
> Next chapter up as soon as I can!


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